Nails are widely used to join two pieces of material and are available in various forms. Nails essentially comprise two portions, a head and a shank. Heretofore the head of a nail, as well as the head portion of similar fasteners such as staples, has been intended merely to provide a surface by which the shank is driven into the typically wooden surface.
One fastening task which has been particularly vexatious is the nailing of a vertical stud to a horizontal plate, called toenailing. In the usual manner the carpenter drives a standard nail into the face of the stud at an angle so that it passes through a portion of the stud and into the plate. This has several drawbacks, including a tendency of the stud to kick out at its plate abutting end. This occurs because the entire driving force is against the stud until the nail has passed through the stud and has begun entering the plate. To counteract the tendency to kick out, the carpenter often must brace the other side of the stud with his foot. Such a procedure is quite cumbersome. Further, especially among the less adept, toenailing in the usual fashion often causes the stud to split, thus drastically reducing the strength of the joint. The common toenailed joint, even if properly done, is quite weak especially with regard to bending stresses.
The prior art discloses several multi-shanked fasteners. The fastener shown in U.S. Pat No. 1,774,867, has a plurality of shanks extending from a common head. Another fastening device shown in U.S. Pat No. 3,011,226, has a plurality of upwardly extending shanks for securing the coplanar sides of intersecting boards. However, neither of the above two patents disclose a device which is at all suitable for toenailing intersecting boards. The first mentioned patent discloses a wallboard tack or staple, the head of which lacks the strength or rigidity for toenailing a stud to a plate. The second mentioned patent discloses a gusset plate and therefore is suitable only for joining coplanar surfaces of two intersecting members, not intersecting boards along their intersecting surfaces.
Other U.S. Patents which may be of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,520,231 and 2,569,532.
Although problems resulting from toenailing boards using standard nails have been well recognized, a superior means for toenailing intersecting boards has not heretofore been available.